Sondhi rallies to renew call for cancellation of MOU44

Former yellow-shirt leader Sondhi Limthongkul led a group of supporters to rally in front of Government House on Tuesday morning to renew the call for the government to abrogate the controversial MOU44 and JC44 documents signed by Thai and Cambodian governments in 2001.

Sondhi also threatened to lead his supporters to protest at Parliament, the Foreign Ministry and the Royal Thai Navy (RTN) headquarters if the demand for the cancellation of the memorandum of understanding BE2544 (MOU44) and joint communiqué BE2544 (JC44) over the overlapping-claim areas (OCA) in the Gulf of Thailand.

Sondhi said he had given the government 15 days to answer his call for the abrogation of MOU44 and JC44 but the government did not reply, so he held the rally on Tuesday to renew the call.

He said if the government remained silent, he would wait for 15 more days before he would hold protests at Parliament and then at the Foreign Ministry and the RTN head office.

MOU44 was endorsed by the cabinets of the Thai and Cambodian governments, while the JC44 was signed by then-prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his Cambodian counterpart Hun Sen.

Sondhi said the campaigns for the cancellation of the two documents would be carried out in the name of the national guardian foundation formed by former senator Khunying Porntip Rojanasuan and administrative-law expert Komsan Phokong.

Speaking at the rally Tuesday morning, Sondhi said the two documents could cause Thailand to lose its sovereignty and territories in the Gulf of Thailand to Cambodia.

He said his group’s call for the government to send the matter to the Constitutional Court for a ruling and to hold public debates on the issue went unheeded.

Sondhi said Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra earlier said she would be ready to hold talks with Sondhi over the issue, but nothing has been done or arranged so far.

Sondhi alleged that it had appeared that Paetongtarn’s Cabinet would collaborate with the Cambodian government to take away part of Thailand in the gulf for vested interests in violation of Articles 119, 120, 128 and 129 of the Criminal Code.

Sondhi used to be a co-leader of the People’s Alliance for Democracy or yellow-shirt movement, which led demonstrations against the so-called Thaksin-regime governments in 2005, 2006 and 2008.

Speaking at the same rally, Parnthep Puapongphan, a host of Sondhi’s YouTube channel, said MOU44 should be annulled before the two countries start negotiations on sharing resources in the OCA in the Gulf of Thailand.

Parnthep said the government claimed MOU44 would be used only as the framework for negotiations, but the government had already designated more than 16,000 square kilometres of area in the gulf for joint development with Cambodia.

He said the designated area included the continental shelf of Thailand, which should have been owned exclusively by Thailand, not for joint development.

Parnthep said the government had not answered his questions regarding the OCA disputes but simply replied that it took heed of the opposition.

After Sondhi’s rally, Paetongtarn stated that her government had not ignored the calls and concerns regarding the MOU44 issue. Instead, her government was in the process of consulting with several relevant agencies.

She mentioned that she might be able to explain the matter to the public after completing consultations with all the involved agencies.

“It would not be beneficial for the country to make public information about discussions that are still ongoing. Some aspects cannot be disclosed,” Paetongtarn said.

“The public can rest assured that we are not ignoring the issue. We have been in continuous discussions with the Foreign Ministry and other relevant agencies. I must emphasize that this is a very sensitive issue that requires careful and prudent consideration.”